Steamboat lodging occupancy dips as ski season closes

Steamboat Springs  The number of vacationers spending this weekend in Steamboat Springs will continue the traditional late-season decline in overall lodging occupancy.

The Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association’s weekly lodging barometer, a forecast of occupancy at local lodging properties, expects about 6,000 guests to spend the night here Saturday. That number is down slightly from last year’s forecast for the corresponding Saturday.

The occupancy forecast for Wednesday dips to 2,900 guests, about 1,500 fewer than in 2011. That continues a near season-long trend of Wednesday occupancy lagging significantly behind midweek occupancy from a year ago.

The numbers are pacing ahead of 2011 for Saturday, April 7, when 3,500 overnight guests are currently booked into rooms at local lodging properties. That number was 2,500 last year.

Closing weekend for the Steamboat Ski Area is April 14-15 and will include the resort’s Springalicious festivities.